Most Arizona seniors rely heavily on Social Security for their
income, an AARP report found.

David Mitchell, AARP Arizona state director, said that reliance
among seniors not just here but around the country is a reason why
Congress shouldn’t tinker with Social Security while addressing the
budget deficit.

“Everything’s on the table, and when they say everything is on
the table, there’s a vulnerability there for both Social Security
and Medicare,” he said.

In Arizona, the study found, Social Security accounts for at
least half of the family income for 47 percent of those over 65 and
90 percent of income for nearly 20 percent.

“It’s really the backbone of financial security for people when
they retire, and it’s something they can count on,” Mitchell
said.

More than 750,000 people over 65 in Arizona were receiving
Social Security benefits by end of 2010, according to the U.S.
Social Security Administration.

Mitchell said this generation of retirees is very dependent on
Social Security because many are from an era in which the wife
relied on the husband’s income. Also, many companies that once
offered pensions have either canceled them or gone bankrupt, he
said.

“So Social Security is really their only safety net,” Mitchell
said.

Tom Jenney, Arizona director of Americans for Prosperity, an
organization that advocates for limited government and free
markets, said depending on Social Security could be unreliable and
the country needs to get into a system of mandatory private
retirement savings accounts.

“The problem for individuals is that the government giveth and
the government taketh away,” Jenney said. “Unless we have thorough
reform on Social Security, the options are not good.”

Price Fishback, a professor of economics at University of
Arizona’s Eller College of Management, said there is no immediate
threat to Social Security, although it is becoming harder to
sustain.

He said cuts would make the situation worse for seniors relying
on it, but if the country is to maintain the system there has to be
a way to pay for it. He noted that the program will become
increasingly expensive with baby boomers approaching
retirement.

Having many people so reliant on Social Security is a sign that
individuals need to start saving more ahead of retirement, he
said.

But Mitchell said Social Security is well and if untouched would
take care of all eligible retirees until 2037, with only minor
adjustments needed to make it sustainable beyond that year.

He said tampering with Social Security would lead to a slew of
problems.

“What do you do when you don’t have income?” Mitchell said.
“Either people don’t buy as much food as they need or don’t buy the
medications that they need or don’t pay the rent and there’s
implications in all those cases.”